Electric car road tax in the UK: what you pay in 2026/27

For years, one of the easiest selling points of an electric car was that it cost nothing to tax. That ended on 1 April 2025, when electric cars joined the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) system alongside petrol and diesel models. A year on, the rules have been adjusted again, most notably with a higher price threshold for the expensive car supplement on electric cars.

This guide sets out what an electric car owner pays for the 2026/27 tax year (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027), how the date your car was first registered changes the bill, and how to check the figure for a specific car.

Last checked: 23 October 2026. The Autumn Budget is due on 28 October 2026 and could change future rates; we will update this page if it does.

The short answer

Most electric cars now pay the same standard annual rate as a petrol or diesel car of a similar age: £200 a year for cars first registered from 1 April 2017. Electric cars registered between March 2001 and March 2017 pay £20. A brand-new electric car pays £10 for its first year. The main exception is a newer electric car with a list price above £50,000, which may pay an extra £440 a year for five years.

Electric car road tax rates for 2026/27

The amount depends mainly on when the car was first registered. The table below shows the 12-month price if you pay in one go.

Paying monthly or every six months

You do not have to pay the whole year upfront. For a car on the £200 standard rate, the options for 2026/27 are:

• one payment of £200 (by card or Direct Debit)
• twelve monthly Direct Debits totalling £210
• six months at £110, or £105 by Direct Debit

If the supplement applies, the equivalents are £640 for a single annual payment, £672 spread over twelve months, or £352 for six months (£336 by Direct Debit). Spreading the cost adds roughly 5% compared with paying annually.

How the 2025 changes work

Before April 2025, zero-emission cars were in the lowest tax band and paid nothing. The government ended that exemption so that electric cars contribute to road tax like other vehicles. The changes applied to existing electric cars as well as new ones, so an owner who had paid £0 for years started paying from their first renewal after 1 April 2025.

Three groups emerged:

Older electric cars (March 2001 to March 2017)

Cars registered in this period are taxed on their CO2 emissions. Because an electric car produces none at the tailpipe, it sits in the lowest band, which costs £20 a year in 2026/27.

Electric cars from April 2017 to March 2025

These cars pay the flat standard rate that applies to every car registered since April 2017, which is £200 for 2026/27. Crucially, they are not charged the expensive car supplement, however much they cost new.

Electric cars from April 2025 onwards

A new electric car pays £10 for its first year, which is usually included in the on-the-road price. From the second year it moves to the £200 standard rate, plus the supplement if its list price was high enough.

The expensive car supplement explained

The expensive car supplement is an additional annual charge for cars that were expensive when new. For 2026/27 it is £440, on top of the £200 standard rate. It is charged for five years, starting from the second time the car is taxed, so a car pays it in years two to six of its life and then drops back to the standard rate.

Which electric cars pay it

For petrol, diesel and hybrid cars the trigger is a list price of more than £40,000. For electric cars the government raised the threshold to more than £50,000, starting with tax renewals that take effect on or after 1 April 2026. This applies to zero-emission cars first registered from 1 April 2025, and it was made retrospective, so a 2025 electric car costing £45,000 new does not pay the supplement on its 2026 renewal.

Electric cars registered before 1 April 2025 are outside the supplement entirely.

What counts as the list price

The list price is the car's published price before it was first registered, before any discount. What you or a previous owner actually paid does not matter, and neither does the car's value today. A heavily discounted car, or a used car now worth £25,000, can still attract the supplement if its original list price was above the threshold. If you are unsure, the original order paperwork, a brochure for that model year, or a franchised dealer can help.

Worked examples for 2026/27

These examples use the single 12-month payment.

Example 1: a £35,000 electric car registered in 2024

Registered after April 2017 and before April 2025, this car pays the standard rate only. Road tax: £200 a year. The supplement would not apply even if the car had cost more than £50,000, because it was registered before 1 April 2025.

Example 2: a £55,000 electric car registered in 2025

The answer depends on the month.

• Registered from 1 April 2025: the first year was covered by the £10 first-year rate. From its second licence, the car pays £200 plus the £440 supplement, £640 a year, for five years. After that it falls back to the standard rate.
• Registered from January to March 2025: this car counts as registered before 1 April 2025, so it is exempt from the supplement and pays £200 a year.

Two cars of the same model and price can therefore carry very different running costs, which is worth knowing when comparing used examples.

Example 3: an electric car registered in 2016

A car registered before April 2017 is taxed on CO2 emissions. With zero tailpipe emissions it falls into the lowest band. Road tax: £20 a year.

Example 4: a £45,000 electric car registered in 2025

Registered after 1 April 2025 but below the £50,000 electric threshold, this car pays £200 a year from its 2026 renewal onwards.

What is coming next: pay-per-mile charging

At the Autumn Budget 2025 the government announced a separate mileage-based charge, known as Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), planned from April 2028. It would be paid in addition to normal road tax. The Vehicle Certification Agency describes a rate of 3p per mile for electric cars, with a reduced rate for plug-in hybrids. A consultation closed in March 2026 and the government published its response in July 2026. Nothing changes for 2026/27, but anyone buying an electric car to keep for several years should factor it in.

How to check your car's road tax

The simplest way is to use the moValue road tax calculator. Enter a registration number and we read the official DVLA record, including the first registration date, fuel type and CO2 figure, and work out the annual charge for 2026/27. DVLA does not hold the list price, so if the supplement could apply we will ask you which price bracket the car was in when new.

When you are buying or selling, road tax is only one part of the picture. Get a free valuation with moValue to see what the car is worth today and compare estimates for each sale route.

You can also confirm the current tax status and renewal date for any vehicle using the government's vehicle enquiry service on GOV.UK.